1. Discussion of the Related Art
The present invention relates to the field of general ventilation with air filtration. More particularly, the present invention relates to ventilation and air filtration systems of commercial, industrial manufacturing facilities. Specifically, a preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to a method of maintaining and cleaning the air filters in a ventilation and air filtration system of a commercial, industrial manufacturing facility.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Historically, it was known in the prior art that air quality of a manufacturing facility is important. Failure to provide a clean air environment within such a facility can lead to health problems and diminished worker productivity. A conventional way to address air quality is simply to operate a fan and open a window. This allows air circulation and a source of clean, fresh air.
Due to environmental concerns, venting polluted air to the outdoors is no longer acceptable. There are many regulations in place that limit the amount of air a commercial facility may exhaust to the environment. To address these restrictions, air filters have been used within facilities to remove harmful particulates from the indoor air and limit the amount of air necessary to be exhausted.
Large motors operating large blower fans are commonly used in manufacturing facilities. These motors can be as large as 20 kilowatts, “20 kw”, and flow a significant amount of air, up to 10,000 cubic feet per minute, “cfm”. While these are impressive numbers, such a large volume of air flow is not needed to effectively clean the ambient air within a facility. The motors are commonly oversized as a single motor is used for a large facility. Duct may be run throughout the building to collect air from many different locations to the large blower. An air filter, or a series of air filters, are commonly located proximate the large blower and filter out particulates from the air.
One problem associated with these air filtration units is that a large and powerful blower is necessary to properly remove airborne particulates throughout the building. The large and fast moving volume of air passing through the air filters deeply imbeds the particulates into the filter. As the filter fills up with particulates, the air flow is diminished and creates a higher filter pressure. For this reason, extra large motors are used to ensure a reasonable cycle time between air filter cleaning. Unfortunately, as the particulates get buried deep into the filter, cleaning the filter only partially removes particulates. The deeply imbedded particulates are very difficult, if not impossible, to be cleaned out of the filter. This requires frequent replacement of the air filters which can be quite costly over time.
As mentioned, known air filtration systems include very large blowers, often centrally located, with industrial duct ran throughout the facility. The single, large blower and dust collection device powerfully draws particulate laden air from throughout the facility into a filtration unit. The common rationale was that a single motor could be purchased large enough to clean an entire building for much less than the cost of multiple smaller units. While the initial cost savings may be realized, particulates are buried deep into the air filtration media as the powerful motor is set to either “ON” or “OFF”. A very large volume of air flow is generated when the air filter is clean. As the air filter is loaded with particulates, a restriction is introduced into the air flow. The large motor continues to operate at the same setting but now has a restriction in the air flow path. The air flow therefore lessens until gradually the air filter is saturated and there is minimal air flow through the air filter.
When it came time to clean these known air filters, the particulates were buried deep within the media and are very difficult, if not impossible, to remove. The air filter cleaning operation may not show much captured particulates evacuated as much of the particulates remain hidden within the air filter.
Furthermore, the known cleaning operations may include percussion against the air filter to dislodge the imbedded particulates, but the particulates would not be released. The air filters are routinely discarded or soiled air filters are re-introduced into the filtration device. Once the large motor is re-started, the air filter is again slammed with a very high air flow. A cloud of particulates may also be present within the air filtration unit following the percussion used to clean the air filter. Once the large motor is re-started, the cloud of particulates within the filtration device is re-introduced into the air filter. This cycle may be repeated consuming a great deal of electrical energy operating the large motor and also at a great expense not only for the electrical energy but also in replacement air filters.
Additionally, the large motor may exhaust a great deal of ambient air within the facility. This presents a loss of energy used to heat, cool, and otherwise establish a consistent and comfortable environment within the facility. Costly “make-up air” units are often necessary that blow air into the facility in order to match air that is exhausted. These make-up air units are often required by building codes and also prevent a large vacuum from being created within the building. The make-up air also requires instant heating in cold climates which again presents added expenses for both the make-up air unit and in energy consumption.
Replacement air must also be made-up with what is commonly referred to as a make-up air unit. For each CFM that is exhausted by a ventilation unit, a CFM must be brought within the facility from the outdoors. Depending on the outdoor temperature, this outdoor air requires heating or cooling which can also be very costly to the facility owner.
What is needed therefore is a ventilation and air filtration system for a manufacturing facility that is capable of filtering the air without large, costly motors. What is also needed is a system that does not require very high CFMs in order to effectively filter the ambient air within the facility. Further, what is also needed is a ventilation and air filtration system that does not deeply imbed particulates into the air filters. Lastly, what is needed is an air filtration system that can equally filter the air as compared to, or improve the performance of, known ventilation and filtration systems while consuming less energy and exhausting less ambient air. Heretofore, these requirements have not been fully met without incurring various disadvantages.